An IchiXHime story!
by Blaize the sky
Summary: Just when Ichigo and Orihime had became a couple, things went berserk! Kyouraku is going to destroy Soul Society and this seems like something that have got to do with Orihime... Just what on Earth is happening to Soul Society! How is Ichigo going to react when Inoue stabbed him in the stomach and left him in the lurch? Who is the mastermind? Please read and review!
1. A barbeque party

During a party (real world) (after Aizen's defeat) (Imagining ichigo haven't lost his powers)

Chapter 1

"Yoohoo! Here's the steak!" Inoue waved a barbequed steak to Ichigo.

"Ahh… Thanks…"

"What happened? Why aren't you feeling happy?" Inoue asked out of concern.

Indeed, even though he had defeated Aizen, Ichigo looked as though he was not in the mood of celebrating the defeat.

"Eh? He is unhappy?" Matsumoto screened his face close enough that made Ichigo embarrassed.

"Matsumoto! Where's my chicken?" Hitsugaya called from behind.

Obviously, Hitsugaya is trying to leave the so called couple behind. He could sense that Inoue is trying to make the move now.

"Inoue, you know what," Ichigo said to Inoue. That made Inoue jumped in surprise.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I think the only thing why Aizen wanted me to defeat him was just to end his life."

"Eh? How do you know?" she looked up to the man who leaned against the wall, face filled with emotions.

On the other hand, while the two was spending their time out, the Soul Society Women's Association was trying to gather the others back into Ichigo's house. The captains were annoyed by it, especially Zaraki and Kurotsuchi.

"What? You want me to go in? You are not even worth fighting me. I want to fight with the tough man outside!" Zaraki tried to shoved them aside by pointing his zampakutou at them.

"Leave them alone! Don't you understand? They are having their great romantic time outside!" Nanao replied.

"If Nanao-chan says so, then it can't help it. Ukitake, let's go visit Isshin," Kyouraku commented.

"Ah ah!" Ukitake accompanied Kyouraku into Isshin's room.

"If you don't want to leave this place, then say your prayers now. Bankai, Konjiki Ashisogi-" Mayuri cried in a sarcastic tone.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura," Byakuya suddenly cried as he tied up Mayuri's sword.

"What do you think you are doing, Kuchiku taichou?" Mayuri said.

"Kuchiki Taichou!" Renji replied.

"I am just doing what I think is right," Byakuya replied.

"Nice one, Kuchiki Taichou!" Renji put up a good job sign.

"Kuchiki Taichou is right. Kurosaki Ichigo is Soul Society's saviour. So, just leave him to do what he wants for the moment," the devilish Unohana came up. The two could not stand against her cold stare and left to tour around the Karakura Town.

"Everyone, let's go up to take a look at our cute couple!" Matsumoto led the way up. Isshin went over with Yuzu and Karin so Kyouraku and Ukitake were forced to go up to Ichigo's room and join the crowd.

"They are over there!" Yumichika pointed out.

Back to the couple… Inoue leaned against the wall beside Ichigo.

"I could sense it when I am fighting with him. His eyes were not burning with the passion to take control of the world but the eyes of a person as though his wish was fulfilled," Ichigo said with a long sigh.

"Eh? I… I think I got what you mean?" Inoue tried to figure out the meaning behind Ichigo's words.

"Ha… What I mean is maybe all he wanted was just to lure me into killing him," Ichigo replied smartly.

"I see…," Inoue replied, rubbing her chin, "Then why didn't he just commit suicide?"

"…Maybe he wanted to die in the hands of someone worthy of killing him? Like me!" Ichigo tried to clear the cold tension between the two of them.

"Haha!" Inoue did laugh after all.

"I think Aizen must be feeling lonely when he had such great powers," Ichigo looked up into the sky and sighed.

"Na… Kurosaki-kun, do you feel the same way?"

"Yea… When I learned the Final Getsuga Tenshou, it really felt lonely when you had no one else to defeat"

"Aizen-sama is such a poor thing… Ulquiorra would be feeling the same too. Just like Kurosaki-kun you, I could feel his loneliness when he hugged me."

"Inoue…"

"Yes?"

"Could you mind not saying about these things when we are already a couple…"Ichigo looked away in embarrassment.

Inoue jumped up in a jolt and looked away too. Her face was totally red like tomatoes.

"Hey, idiot son! Why aren't you making a move on her? Can't you see the beautiful chance here!" Isshin cried out.

"Gambatte, onii-chan!" Yuzu agreed with Isshin.

"Inoue…"

"What now, Kurosaki-kun?"

"I just want to… want to…"

He ended off by walking towards her slowly. He circled his hand around her waist and rummaged his hand through her smooth, silky hair. They exchanged looks for a moment before diving in for their second kiss. As she thought, Ichigo is the best for her, even his kiss too. It was so sweet but his saliva tasted like her favourite donut while to Ichigo, she tasted like his favourite chocolate. He loved her dearly. The risk to go to Hueco Mundo to save her showed it all. Inoue meant a lot to him. He could not just let go off her so easily. No matter what, he would not allow her to meet any danger. He would protect with all his might and power, he promise and conveyed his message through his kiss. Inoue gladly accepted it and they ended the kiss off with Ichigo giving her a last light kiss on her lips.

Up in Ichigo's room, Matsumoto, Isshin and Nanao were busy closing Hitsugaya, Yuzu and Yachiru's eyes respectively.

"Matsumoto! What the hell do you think you are doing?" Hitsugaya bellowed.

"Are, are… I am just doing what a normal adult would do. These kind of scenes are not suitable for children under age," Matsumoto tried to explain.

"Matsumoto… Just go back to Soul Society now!" Hitsugaya is obviously annoyed by her actions as usual.

"Ichigo, you got it tough huh?" Zaraki commented.

Yuzu and Isshin went down to welcome the new couple…

"Where's everyone?" Inoue asked.

"I think they are upstairs…" Ichigo said as he showed he way up.

"Ichigo, what do you think you are doing just now? I saw that all! That's your first kiss right?" Isshin caught Ichigo on the neck.

Ichigo swung him away.

"W…What? What I do is none of your business right?" Ichigo argued.

"None of my business? I am your geezer okay? Nah… Don't be embarrassed. Tell me, is it your first kiss?" Isshin teased Ichigo.

"no…" Ichigo looked away.

"Eh? Then, apologise to Orihime-chan," Isshin dragged Ichigo to face Inoue.

"Why should I?" Ichigo was confused by his dad sudden action.

"Orihime-chan, sorry! Ichigo used to be a delinquent so he might just had lost his first kiss then," Isshin apologised on Ichigo's behalf.

"Eh?" Inoue was the one confused now.

"I told you it wasn't like this! My first kiss was with Inoue okay? Happy?" Ichigo shy away from embarrassment.

"Oh… Then, when is it? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Who would want to tell an old man like you who still act as if he was a young kid?"

"Just tell me. Just tell me…" Isshin begged.

"No way!"

"Tell me" Isshin went round in circles, begging Ichigo.

"Ahhhhh! I get it! I kissed her after fighting with Grimmjow," Ichigo's face reddened up again. Inoue's face too.

"Oh… Then how long have you been dating?"

"Around the same time…"

"Nice one! That's my son!" Isshin patted Ichigo hard on his back.

"Wow wow, what a commotion… Let's get back to our party. Anyway, Ichigo, congratulations on finding a fine and pretty girlfriend," Kyouraku said and went to the yard for the barbeque with Ukitake.

Ichigo glanced over to look at his beloved girlfriend who was busy chatting away with Rukia about some 'girl stuffs' as they like to put it. He gave a small chuckle and for once, his frown disappeared. Renji noticed it and teased him but to his dismay, Ichigo did not retaliate as he normally would. Instead, he agreed with Renji that it was Inoue who trampled on his life and turn his world upside down, making him a person for the better. Renji looked at him looking dreamingly at his girl. For some unknown reason, he felt jealous of him. At least, Ichigo was able to be with Inoue, someone he like, while him, he could only watch Rukia from afar.

Everyone decided to stay over in the real world for some days before heading back to soul society after a tiring evening, eating, chatting, arguing and singing their hearts out. As usual, Renji and Byakuya went to Urakara shop for a nightover. The girls from the Women's Association, except Rukia, headed to Inoue's. Chad's house was occupied by Ikkaku, Zaraki, Yumichika and Yachiru, practically everyone from the eleventh squad. Ishida was from a family who despised shinigami so naturally his father would not allow any of them coming to their house, hence, none was invitied over. Well for the rest, they squeezed themselves in Ichigo's house. With alcoholic smell all over his room and a few drunken who were sleep-talking in their dreams, Ichigo really had his in trying to get some sleep. Peering through the windows half-covered by the windows, he thought of how lively-bustling it would be at Inoue's house. Shoving the thoughts away, he buried himself in his pillow and no sooner later, he fell into a deep slumber…_ Ssshh_


	2. A night of peaceless

**Hi! This is my second chapter! Please remember to leave your comments after you read it! Anyway, this chapter is more of action than romance so... Erm... Enjoy! **

**P.S. Action stories are not my major... :P**

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Late in the night, in Ichigo's room, everyone was falling asleep. The rustling of the leaves could be heard when the leaves danced to the rhythm of the wind. The cries of the crickets were not loud enough to wake up the sleepyheads in that particular household. A little girl with golden hair of age ten was cuddling a lion head push toy in her arms, sharing her bed with Hinamori. Her twin on the opposite bed was sharing her bed with a cute taichou that she admired. Back in Isshin's room, three drunken man slept in an unruly manner on a bed. The long white-haired was lying at the bottom most, with the fanciful one and lastly, the crazy one on top. In Ichigo's room, he was forced to sleep with Hisagi, the most 'normal' one and Kira. Komamura and his squad, and Kurotsuchi had left earlier as they could not stand the stench of drunken in the room.

Such a peaceful night was called off when all of a sudden, the substitute shinigami badge and all the other shinigamis' cell phones rang at the same time. Ichigo immediately change into his soul reaper form while hearing what Hisagi had to say about after talking to the other party. Kira, on the other hand, search his cell phone for any hollows or enemies around the area.

"What is it, Hisagi-san?"

The sounds of the cell phones ringing had obviously alerted all members in the family from their sleep when Kyouraku asked Hisagi about the current situation. All except the twins.

"Looks like all the captains and Ichigo have to report to Inoue Orihime's house for a meeting with Sou Taichou," Hisagi replied as he hung up the call.

"What about you, Kira-san?" Kyouraku turn to ask the blonde who was busy punching in letters in his cell phone.

"Looks like there would be a sudden wave of hollows that would be invading the real world… That includes the Menos too… All the taichous had gathered in Inoue's room while the others had rooted themselves in their respective places."

"Then, let's go, Hisagi-san, Kira-kun," a soft purr coming out from Hinamori broke the silence as the three vice-captains went out from the window.

"I'll be here to protect Yuzu and Karin. Ichigo, bring them to Inoue's house," Isshin commanded.

"B-but…" Ichigo's face turned red from embarrassment. Although it was not the first time he went to Inoue's house, but it was the first time he went there after they became a couple.

"Embarrassed huh?" Isshin could guess what Ichigo was thinking about straight away. Ichigo's was his son after all.

"Fine!" Ichigo commented and led the taichous to Inoue's house.

In Inoue's room….

Byakuya was leaning against the wall. Renji and Rukia sat next to each other, in front of a gigantic screen, a screen that seems creepier than what was happening outside. Zaraki was standing in the middle of the room, with Yachiru on his shoulders. Unohana sat next to Soifon against the wall that was adjacent to the wall of the screen.

A young lady hurried into the room when she found out that she was the only one in the room. It was surprising that all those ringing of the cell phones could not wake her up. Ichigo gave a small chuckle as he walked towards and slid his hand to her waist, keeping her tight beside him.

"What is going to happen, Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue purred while rubbing her sleepy eyes with the back of her hand. The way how cute she looked when wearing her pyjamas and her reactions when she was half-awake was an unbearable sight for Ichigo. No sooner or later if Inoue were to continue acting spoilt in front of Ichigo, he would definitely be unable to resist the temptation to kiss her at least, built up by the activation of the sudden gush of release of his male hormones.

Trying to avert his gaze off her, he looked at the weird screen right in front of them. That brought Inoue to follow where his eyes were looking at in curiosity when she too had noticed the huge screen. She remembered seeing it when Matsumoto and Hitsugaya had carried it back home and placed it at the exact same position where it is now. Maybe, she thought, the screen could only work at that specific position.

An old man on a walking stick greeted the shinigamis who were at the scene right that when Hitsugaya activated the machine. Inoue immediately recognised the old man as the Sou Taichou as she tried to evade from the scene as she bet that it had nothing to do with her. For some reasons, Ichigo did not stop her.

"Inoue Orihime-san, you don't have to go out as it concerned about you humans too," the old man's facial expression had never changed once. It is always as stern and as hilarious-looking for all the while he had made his appearance in Bleach.

"H-hai," Inoue made her way back to Ichigo's side as he no longer held her in his arms. Instead, he had her in his hands as he knew the seriousness of the matter and it was no time for romantic moments.

The old man allowed another man, recognisably from the twelfth squad as seen from their outer appearance. To Inoue, as expected, she had always referred them to as aliens who had invaded Soul Society.

"According to our research, it showed them a huge number of hollows with humongous reiatsu had been notified around the area of Karakura town. The number of hollows kept increasing at a high rate mainly due to the reiatsu left behind after the fight between Kurosaki Ichigo-san and Captain Aizen Sosuke. It would be advisable for captains or the other shinigamis to work in pairs to avoid the number of injured. The forth squad had been notified by this and would be sent to the real world shortly. The other vice-captains had also been notified. As for the remaining fighting force in Soul Society, they would not be sent out before further notice due to the difference in level between them and the hollows and we could not afford to lose many lives in this episode. Report over," the alien-like man in white suit commented as he read off the data he had collected through his analysis.

Without further ado, the captains split themselves into different pairs and went off to fight the hollows at their destinated areas. Ichigo had been assigned with Inoue to work at the area near a construction site where the most number of hollows were. Ichigo held her on her waist with his strong arms as he was prepared to bring Inoue to the site with his shunpo. However, Inoue struggled out from him.

"Kurosaki-kun, p-please go alone and leave me here. I would only cause you more trouble…" Inoue was reluctant fight alongside with Ichigo as she herself was aware of the difference in their power. Her being there would only mean a burden to Ichigo. Given Ichigo's character, he would strive his very best to protect everyone dear to him from the enemies. Inoue knew it all too well and so, she did not want fight with him.

"Y-You wouldn't, I promise," Ichigo could feel the meaning behind those words.

"B-But…"

"No buts," Ichigo insisted.

"Al-right…" Inoue gave in when she sensed the seriousness in her boyfriend's eyes and words. However, she could not help but doubt his promise. For as long as she knew him, he was someone who would rather risk his life to even help a stranger from danger needless to say it was now she herself, his girlfriend.

Ichigo swooped Inoue into a princess carry and carried her with him to the designated site with his shunpo. Along the way, Inoue was taking small glances at her handsome boyfriend and was unknowingly touching his chest with her delicate hands. Ichigo could sense her looking at him every now and then but more importantly, the tingling sensation her hands was giving him with every touch on his chest. It invigorated him way too much that he knew if she were to touch him even faster, he would be able to take control of his male hormones. His heart was beating a little too fast and was afraid and embarrassed if Inoue was to find out that he was blushing. For obvious reasons, he was glad that it was dark then.

With excitement, embarrassment and enjoyment, it soon came to an end when they reached their destination. Ichigo had chose to put Inoue down on a spot that was not very near from the hollows so as to allow her more time to prepare for her attacks. The screaming of the hollows could be heard and that ached Inoue's ears a little. On the other hand, Ichigo had withdrawn his sword, preparing for any sudden attacks.

"Are you ready, Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue asked, placing her hands over her shun-shun-rikka.

"Ah~" Ichigo replied with his signature smirk as he saw the hollows approaching them at lightning speed. Although not expressing it out, Ichigo was quite worried for Inoue as given her speed and abilities, she might not be able to win against those hollows. If she had not requested him to not protect her, he would have gone all out to protect her while killing those hollows out with just a mere swing.

"Tsubaki-kun, koten-sansshun! Santen-kesshun!" Inoue bawled her lungs out as she shot out four petals at one go, protecting herself from behind her shield and slicing the hollows row by row. Ichigo looked at her and felt more at ease. At least, she had showed him that as long as she tried her best, she could still protect herself and he should care more about himself. He smirked and pointed his sword at the enemy closest to him.

"Getsuga TENSHOU!" he exclaimed, blasting out blue flames that came charging at the hollows at light speed. That did all the jobs that he should do while Inoue was still struggling to kill all the hollows at her side. He then leaned against the trunk of a big tree and sighed, thinking about random stuffs, reminiscing the days when he was fighting with Aizen Sosuke.

Just then, an ear-piercing scream jolted him to his senses. His eyes turned to the direction from where the sound was coming from when he saw his dearest girlfriend getting caught by a hollow… No, it should be an adjuchas!

Ichigo was shocked by the scene. He was angry by what the adjuchas was doing. It had its hands on her breasts while its tail haughtily moving down to her sensitive part.

He could not stand his girl getting touched by the others and that includes the monstrous hollows or adjuchas or what-so-ever. He was livid to the extent that he could no longer care about what he was doing or what he was going to do.

Nevertheless, all he did was to use the same tactic again, this time round with more reiatsu and emotions, which solved the problem in a minute. With that, he went over to pick up Inoue back into the princess carry again.

"Ku…ro…saki-kun…." Inoue struggled to pronounce his name. Her breath was getting heavier and heavier with each minute pass and Ichigo was very worried about her. Cold sweats were beginning to form on her forehead and soon rolled off her head and reached Ichigo's robe.

"Hai," Ichigo forced out a gentle smile from his worried-ness. He knew Inoue would not like him to be all worried about her unless she was badly injured.

"I'm alright…" Inoue weakly smiled at him. It made Ichigo felt more reassured and immediately brought her to his father's clinic while Inoue passed out in his arms.

"What happened to her?" Isshin asked his son who looked at extremely worried.

"…I.. I d-don't know either… I heard her screaming and the next moment I knew… she was strangled by the hollow and passed out…" Ichigo tried to explain to his father.

"I get it. I'll do a blood test analysis for her to check her current condition," Isshin said turning his back to face, "Don't worry much. Orihime-chan is a strong willed girl and will definitely to alright. Trust her."

"_Trust me, Kurosaki-kun. I would be alright…"_

'Yea… She would be alright… She definitely would…' Ichigo tried to assure himself but to no avail. Inoue was after all someone dear to him.

Meanwhile, the others were fighting…

"Taichou~, why wouldn't you let me take part in this fight?" Matsumoto grunted.

Hitsugaya had thought that it would be faster if he were to keep Matsumoto out of the fight and handle the hollows in a swing than allowing Matsumoto to fight alongside with him, interfering his moves.

"Just shaddap can't you?" Hitsugaya's ears was beginning to ache from all of Matsumoto's grunts and he blew up in the end. Sometimes, having an old lady as your subordinate would be of great nuisance.

On the other hand, Renji and Byakuya seemed to have no problem in dealing with the hollows together…

"Howl, Zabimaru!"

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

An extended sword cut through the hollows one by one, while thousands of pink petals danced in the atmosphere as if it was of no harm. In fact, with those little petals of his, Byakuya managed to kill more hollows than Renji.

"As expected from Kuchiki-taichou, you've killed one more hollow than me!" Renji showed a good-job sign with his thumb at Byakuya.

Byakuya, although baffled by his compliements, decided to remain calm and unaffected, and told Renji to move off then…

Back to Karakura Town Clinic, where Ichigo was waiting for Inoue's report…

Ichigo immediately jumped up from the sofa when Isshin came out of his room with a handful of papers.

"How's it?" Ichigo asked with worried-looking eyes. Isshin was almost stunned by it as it was the first time Ichigo was acting like this, after his mother's death.

"It seems like Orihime-chan was poisoned by the enemy… Relax, this poison had already been removed out from her body so she would be coming around in a moment," Isshin commented while giving a pat on his son's shoulder.

"Thanks, Dad!"

For the first time, Ichigo called his own father, dad.

'_But what could that poison be? No matter how I look at it, it just seemed more than ordinary to me. It is a really strong one but to think that Orihime-chan could survive from it, that's ridiculous…. Or could it be that the poison would only cause harm to shinigamis?' Isshin thought._

"Kurosaki-san! Ikkaku seemed to be poisoned! His face had changed colour!" Ayasegawa came charging in with an unconscious, purple-faced Ikkaku.

'_Just as I thought… A disaster is coming…' Isshin thought._

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><p><strong>End of chapter 2 :X Reviews please and thanks for reading! Stay tuned for chapter 3 as it is coming up soon! I would try to upload one chapter every two days!<strong>


	3. Donating blood

**This is my third chapter... Sorry for the bad chapter 2 but I promise this would be a way better one than the previous! Enjoy! ^^**

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><p>Chapter 3 – Donating blood<p>

"From our analysis, the poison found on both Inoue Orihime's body and Eleventh Squad Third Seat, Madarame Ikkaku is similar. This poison is most probably created by the Eighth Espada, Syazel Aporro Granz before his death to defeat the team led by Substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo. This poison is enough to kill a shinigami within a few hours. The answer to why Inoue Orihime can last for so long was because of her ability to reject," the same twelfth squad guy reported the current situation to the captains and vice-captains in the real world.

"Where is the poison now?" Byakuya asked the weird looking guy in the screen. Upon scrutiny, Ichigo could see little pimples on his cheeks.

"All the poison is now in Madarame Ikkaku's body and the only antidote we can find now is Inoue Orihime's blood," the guy wiped off the beats of perspirations that were beginning to form on his forehead. Maybe, the twelfth squad do not have air-conditioner after all.

"So, how many do I have to donate?" Inoue asked weakly, trying her best to stand upright while leaning against the door for support. Her lips were still of a faint colour.

"I-Inoue, don't try to walk when you are so sick now! Quick go back and have a rest!" Ichigo rushed to her side and offered her support against his muscular chest. He held her close to himself, feeling the warmth breath of hers against his exposed skin.

"I…I want to save Ikkaku-san… He saved me before…" Inoue mumbled her words so such only Ichigo was able to hear her as she recalled how Ikkaku and the rest of the elevevth squad had protect her from the shinigamis when she and Ichigo and the rest had charged into Soul Society as ryokas.

"I know… I know… B-But…"

"Just tell me… How much blood do I need to donate…" she raised her voice so that the guy in the screen could hear her.

"5000cc of blood," he replied her immediately.

"Alright," Inoue answered him but was cut off by Ichigo. He held her tight on the shoulders, turning her to face him face-to-face.

"What? Are you kidding me? Inoue, it's 5000cc of blood! Not a hundred or what-so-ever! You're a human! You'll die from that!" Ichigo just could not bear having to see his girlfriend dying from saving his friend.

"Yea… Ichigo's right. Inoue, you can just don't care about Ikkaku. If that's his destiny, he should accept it and be glad that he died from fighting someone," the man named Zaraki finally opened his mouth to talk.

"Uhm Uhm! Baldie would be happy!" a pink haired girl rephrased what Zaraki had just said.

Inoue smiled at them and turned her head back to her boyfriend who was facing her, looking down at the ground. His hands were still clutching her small shoulders.

"Kurosaki-kun, be glad that this isn't something of a great disaster but something that we might be able to break through. Since my blood can save Ikkaku-san, why don't we give it a try? Ikkaku-san might be able to live," Inoue tried her very best to persuade Ichigo around with her best smile. She looked at the others who just hung their heads down, unable to mutter a word in this situation.

"Inoue, if that's what you wanted, then I'll support you," a short black haired shinigami, Rukia broke the silence in the room.

"Kurosaki-kun?" she pleaded the substitute shinigami.

"Al-right…" he finally said out those words that he hated to say at times like these. However, if that's what his girlfriend wanted, then he might as well agree to it. He looked up at Inoue and gave her a weak smile, as though he was the one who's weak here. Pulling her closer to himself, he did not care about how the others viewed him or that there are others looking at him. All he knew was that if he did not get to do this now, he might not be able to do that to her again.

He snaked his hand along the contours of her jaws as they guided him to cupped her face. Stroking her smooth cheek with his thumb, he sunk in for a passionate kiss. Inoue was shocked by his action but had soon recovered from her stupor. She allowed his tongue to roam about in her mouth, as though in search for something valuable, priceless. This time, she did not try and join in the fun, but allow him to enjoy it to his max. Ichigo had unknowingly slide his hand into the hem of her shirt, touching her naked skin, fumbling with her bra scrape when Inoue pushed him away. Even though she hated doing so, but it was just not right of them to do those things right in front of the others.

"Ichigo, please mind your behaviour when there are people around. Can't you just resist yourself from screwing around with your girlfriend?" a jealous, red-faced Renji confronted him.

Ichigo sighed as he helped Inoue to fasten back her bra and settled down afterwards. Inoue shyly occupied the seat next to him.

"Erm… Now…" the guy in the screen cleared his throat after witnessing such a scene with bulging eyes, "Can I have Inoue Orihime, Madarame Ikkaku and the other shinigami go back to Soul Society for the blood transfer immediately. A Senkaimon gate had been prepared for you," he ended of with the speech and the screen went blank. Shortly afterwards, sure enough, a Senkaimon gate opened right beside the big screen in which hell butterflies flew out. Strikes of white light shot out from the gate, hurting the eyes of all the people in the room.

"Quick, we don't have much time left," Ukitake exclaimed as he ordered for Inoue and Ikkaku to be sent to Soul Society immediately. Ikkaku had only a couple of hours left.

"Hai," Yumichika carried Ikkaku over his shoulders, running through the passageway of the Precipice World that leads to Soul Society. Inoue on the other hand ran alongside with Ichigo as she refused to let Ichigo princess carry her from all the embarrassment he had caused her earlier on.

"We're here," Ukitake said as he ordered the two personnel involved in the blood transfusion to be sent to the forth squad immediately while Isane and Unohana rushed over to the forth squad to get themselves prepared for the blood transfusion. Parts of Ikkaku's body had had to be removed and hence, Inoue was there to donate hers to him too.

On the other hand, outside the operation room, Ichigo paced up and down the corridor, worrying about Inoue. Indeed, it was something he had to be so worried about. A normal human could only donate 500cc of blood at a time. And now Inoue was going to donate ten times more blood to Ikkaku, not mentioning the donation of her liver and a kidney. She might die from excess loss of blood. Ichigo was on the verge of venting out his frustrations as he thought of the negative outcome the surgery might turn out to be. In fact, he did not even want to think about it. How he wished he was now at home sleeping, not knowing about what had happened to Inoue and so he does not need to worry about her so much.

His legs could not stop moving as the frustrations that had built inside him forbidden them to do so. Once he settled himself on a chair or stop down, he would start being pessimistic again. Even Byakuya could not stand having to see him being so worried about Inoue that he even used kido to bind him up.

"You need a rest," he said in his usual calm tone.

"Inoue is in there, almost dying! How can I even think about having a rest?" he answered Byakuya rudely. This time, Byakuya did not stop him from sprouting bad things about him while letting him to vent out his anger. He knew how it feels like to lose someone dear to you, those anger, those frustrations in you were built up because you can't protect them. The thought of his deceased wife came floating back again.

"Ichigo, Kuchiki-taichou is right. Rest now," Renji said as he tried to settle the mad-driven teen.

Rukia could not stand the scene of Ichigo being so not like him anymore that she decided to use kido to shut up him.

"33th demon magic, Sokatsui!" she exclaimed, blasting a ball of blue flame at the tied up Ichigo. Ichigo screamed but before he could react to it, he was already burnt by the blue flame in the stomach and passed out.

"That will do the job," she said proudly.

"Erm… Rukia… You could actually just use poison to make him pass out rather than have him being knocked down by a kido…" Renji tried to explain while the other bystanders looked with stunning looks.

_Ichigo felt himself lying on something soft. 'What's this?' he asked himself as he slowly opened his eyes to find himself in nothing but a total darkness. Have he really opened his eyes? So, why is the world still so dark? Had he lost his sense of sight? He was afraid as he screamed his lungs out, asking for help but no one replied. Then, something fragrant caught his attention as he slowly closed his eyes again. It smelled like cherry blossoms mixed with the fragrance of spring. He smiled as he slowly opened his eyes again._

What that was awaiting him to see was a wooden ceiling, like those of ancient Japanese homes. He anchored his elbow in a position such that he could support himself on his elbow. He looked beneath him, he was sleeping in a futon. Around him was a place somewhat similar to a dojo house. Memories of the past soon drifted back into his mind as he recalled that he was in Soul Society.

"You're awake? Inoue Orihime-san had just awake. You can go and see her now," a tall, handsome taichou greeted him.

"Thanks, Byakuya!" Ichigo dashed off immediately, forgetting his manners again.

"He'll get it from me the next time he calls me by my first name again," Byakuya promised with the stake of his pride.

"Inoue!" Ichigo barged into the ward where he saw the name 'Inoue Orihime' stated on it.

"Kurosaki-kun," Inoue welcomed him with her usual cheerful smile. Her hand was connected to a drip where she could get her nutrients and minerals from.

"I think we'll have to excuse ourselves from here," Matsumoto said as she looked at the blushing Ichigo. Rukia smiled as she noticed the pink tinted cheeks of his. The two gossipers made their way out of the room, leaving Ichigo and Inoue all alone in the room.

"Are you alright, Inoue?"

"Uhm… I'm feeling as great as I could now! Kurosaki-kun, how about you? I heard from Rukia-san that she had knocked you down with a direct, close-distance kido. Are you alright?" Inoue asked in worry.

"Of course, I am. If not, I wouldn't be able to be here to see you," he answered proudly and suddenly turned embarrassed again when he realised that they were all alone in the room.

"Inoue… I… Are you ready?" Ichigo asked her, dirty things filled up his mind. He could resist doing 'that' to Inoue anymore.

"Huh?" An innocent looking Inoue resting her back against the pillow behind her replied.

"Erm… ya… Nothing much… Just rest, Inoue," Ichigo said as he went out of the room and closed the door.

_What am I thinking of? Doing 'that' to an innocent girl who knew nothing about these sick stuffs? Ichigo, you really aren't an upright man as you were in the past. Where are your manners? Stop thinking about all these stuffs... You have to wait until she told you that she's ready before you start thinking of these._

Ichigo racked his head as he leaned against the door he had just closed. What's wrong with him these few days?

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><p><strong>End of chapter 3! Reviews please! I needed them so that I can improve on my writing and if you have any ideas on the following, do remember to leave it as a review too! I would appreciate it very much! Thank you!<strong>


	4. A drunken mistake

**This is the forth chapter... I know I am uploading new chapters really fast but please don't expect new chapters to be uploaded at this speed as once school reopens, I would not be able to upload this fast already... ^^ **

**Anyway, Please enjoy this chapter! I had tried my best to link up all the chapters together! (That's one tiring job...)**

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><p>Chapter 4 – A drunken mistake<p>

"Hey Ichigo, wanna have some beer? I will be paying for it, huh," Kyouraku held up a bottle of sake at the panic-stricken Ichigo who was leaning against the door. Beats of perspirations were seen rolling from the sides of his forehead, misleading someone else to think that he had done 'that', as what he likes to call it.

"No thanks," Ichigo rejected his offer.

"You shouldn't have invited a high school student for a drink. Sorry about that Ichigo-san," a man with long sleek white hair reprimanded his good old friend. Even though Ichigo is a substitute shinigami and had helped to eliminate the hollows in Karakura Town that does not give him special privileges to drink alcoholic drinks. He is a student after all, a normal student studying his high school. He had already broken one of the majors rules of the school (dating) and could not afford to break another.

"Oh… It wouldn't kill to have a sip of drink right? Breaking a rule is also violating the school rules. Breaking many rules is also violating the school rules. So you might as well break as many as you can right?" Ichigo's good friend, with red hair, patted hard on his shoulder.

"What kind of logic is that?" Ichigo asked his friend in true curiosity. Sometimes, he really doubt why on Earth Rukia would come to like Renji, even though Renji is still unaware of it, but for someone to like Renji, that person must be mad. Ichigo ponder about it for a while and agreed to his own explanations. Rukia is a mad woman after all.

Unknowingly, he had been dragged along with the guys to a bar, somewhere that seemed to be really out of space in Soul Society. In his impression, Soul Society should be a very peaceful place, a very ancient like place, so what is a night bar doing here out of nowhere?

"W-Why on earth…" Ichigo stuttered as he stepped into the place that Kyouraku had nicknamed 'Men's Paradise'.

Inside, all the handsome men you can find in Soul Society were dancing about, screwing around with the pretty ladies in there. Right in the middle, where most ladies were, Ichigo thought he saw someone like the sixth squad captain. Upon scrutiny, he saw Byakuya in nothing else but a modern hot-wear. He was currently wearing a low cut V-neck black shirt and a pair of skinny jeans, which hems were tucked into his black boots. It's of no wonder why the hot girls were surrounding him, after all Byakuya was handsome and had good body lines. If Ichigo were to be out there, he might just end up as pathetic as Byakuya, unable to fight his way out from a crowd of hungry-looking sexy girls.

"Soul Society thought it would have to make an effort to modernize itself so Sou taichou had suggested for a night bar to be opened here," Renji proudly told Ichigo.

'_So, that old man is also a pervert, huh?' Ichigo thought to himself._

Kyouraku led the group of men up to the second floor where rentals of modern clothes could be found. Ichigo was stunned by the rental shop as that was nothing that could be found back in the real world. Maybe, it was because everyone is already wearing similar clothes, he thought. He chose a simple one but Kyouraku took it off him and asked for another one. In the end, he was forced to wear a hot pink shirt with a purposely crumbled checkers t-shirt outside, unbuttoned. He had jeans on him and like Byakuya, he had hid the hem of his jeans into his brown long boots. Renji had a casual suit on, Ukitake had a normal t-shirt with jeans while Kyouraku remain the same.

"Hey, aren't you the one to ask us to change into something?" Ichigo scowled at the middle-aged looking man.

"Well, I didn't say I was going to change into one right?" Kyouraku smirked as he led them to the first floor again.

The light rays that were reflected from the disco ball were too shiny that it hurts Ichigo's eyes badly. Ichigo squinted his eyes, trying his best not to look at the disco ball as he knew no sooner later; he might be blind from glaring too much at a disco ball. He and Renji walked their way to the stage where most people are dancing and had soon found themselves a spot to dance.

"You're sure good, huh?" Renji teased Ichigo.

"I had went to the ones in the real world before," Ichigo tried to hid his embarrassment as Renji peep down at him to look at his rosy cheeks.

"Then why hadn't you brought me to one?" Renji grumbled like a little kid.

"Eh? You two had went to the real world before? How's it there?" swarms of girls suddenly came crowding the two guys. Renji seemed proud about it while Ichigo felt uneasy about it. He felt as though he had betrayed Inoue. In fact, he should not even have come to such places without Inoue along.

"Yea… I went there lots of times!" Renji boasted about, walking off while bringing a trail of girls along with him. The others tugged around Ichigo.

"Then, what about you, hunk?" a hot, sexy girl traced her finger down his arm, sending goose bumps to Ichigo.

"I...I...I'm a human..." Ichigo tried his best to crawl out from the group of girls but got caught by instead.

"Oh… By any chance, are you the famous substitute shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo-kun?" the girls asked seductively.

"Erm… I guess so?" Ichigo asked, moving backwards little by little while the girls charged towards him little by little.

"Woah!" the girls shrieked, as though intending to pierce Ichigo's ears to deaf.

"Don't you know how long we wished to see you…"

"But we could do nothing but look at the weekly magazines…."

A girl pulled out a magazine from nowhere and on the front page was his full body-length picture, smiling seductively at him himself.

"What's this?" Ichigo screamed, catching the attention of all the people around him.

"Eh? This? This is the famous weekly Substitue Shinigami Magazine that we girls have to rushed to line up in the queue early in the morning to wait for our turn or else… or else…"

"Or else, the magazines would be sold out… There are only a million copies of them…"

_What? A million copies… Are they trying to kid with him? Having to compete against each other for a stupid magazine when there are a million copies out there… That's way too absurd… At least, Inoue wouldn't do something like that as she got to touch the real me…_

Ichigo immediately shoved off the dirty thoughts off his mind and concentrated on only one thing, to get out of that crappy place in one piece. The background music was blasting loudly but his ears could not hear them as properly as he heard the girls whining. He has to get out of there immediately as Inoue was at home, waiting for him.

Finally, struggling his way out of the bunch of crazy girls, he slumped himself into the couch and drank a cup of drink without checking with the others what kind of drink it is. It tasted weird, a bit spicy but he cared less about that. All he wanted was something to freshen himself up.

"Er… Ichigo… That drink you just drank was…" Renji tried to stop him from gulping down the big glass of transparent, no-quite-bad-tasting drink.

"What? I have no interest in it," Ichigo exclaimed, obviously showing that what he had just drank was strong alcoholic wine.

His eyes were heavy and his head was dizzy but his legs were still able to move. Without knowing where he was heading, he staggered his way down to the first floor where he danced his way to the rhythm of the blasting music, enjoying a whale of time. Renji and the others looked worried about him but Kyouraku stopped them from moving forward. Kyouraku wanted to test the two's depth of love through this very test. Hence, the others had no choice but to look at how the teen was hugging and kissing the other girls, dancing and enjoying his time through a wrong state of mind.

Soon after, everything became a total swirl as Ichigo tried to blink his eyes hard but to no avail. He fell into a deep slumber in which no one was capable of waking him up. Renji rushed down to pick him up as he used his shunpo against those maniac girls. His clothes were untidy and his belt, unfastened. His hair was in a mess too. Normal people would get the wrong idea that he had lost his virgin.

"W-What's this?" Inoue stuttered as Renji brought her to the room where the drunken Ichigo was. They were currently using the sixth-squad guest room for rest.

"Don't get it wrong… Ichigo was drunk and –," Renji was cut off when Inoue dashed out of the room, dragging her weak body along.

"Inoue-san," Renji cried from behind, wanting to stop her. He knew that any minute now, the stitches on her body would give it away if she continued to run.

"Never mind her… The forth squad and the women's association would look after her," Ukitake stopped Renji from chasing after that weak, devastated girl, "Anyway, how's Ichigo now?" he continued as he entered the room without permission from the sixth-squad vice-captain.

"He's just sleeping… Nothing much," Renji replied as he saw how peacefully and beautifully Ichigo was sleeping now. He might as well let him rest as much as he could now as once he woke up, a disaster would arise between he and his girlfriend.

"What's wrong, Inoue-san?" Matsumoto patted her back, hushing the crying girl down.

"Yea… Why are you crying?" Rukia asked as she saw how big fat tears rolled down from her dear friend's eyes to her rosy cheeks.

"Kuro-saki-kun… _sniffs… _Kurosaki-kun… _sniffs…_ He..." Inoue ended the speech with a loud cry again. Yoruichi, who was currently in Soul Society, lent her chest for the poor girl to cry her hearts out in.

"What did that reckless boy do?" Yoruichi asked her, patting her head as she could feel her shirt getting damp from the auburn-haired girl.

"He… He… he c-cheated on me…" Inoue elucidated in between her bawls.

"What?" Nanao, who had been sitting there, worried about how the teen might cause her own wounds to worsen, exclaimed. She was the type who could not stand guys who cheated on their own women.

"Ichhy is baddie!" a light pink haired girl said and Nemu nodded in agreement.

"Orihime-chan, don't care about that bastard anymore! He doesn't deserve your love!" Nanao was getting fired by this commotion. The heat that had been emitting from her had surrounded the whole women's association's room, making it feel stuffy even under the 'Super High-Speed Fan'.

"Kurosaki-kun isn't a bastard… He's just… He might have something going on… I must believe him…" Inoue suddenly changed her mind set, kept on believing that there might be something else. She couldn't just decide on the conclusion herself without hearing what he made to say. Moreover, she knew Ichigo loves her and that she should not suspect him until he told her the truth. Kurosaki-kun wouldn't cheat on her… Kurosaki-kun wouldn't cheat on her…

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><p><strong>Oh... And erm... I might be able to upload another chapter tomorrow as my boyfriend had asked me out for a date, so wish me good luck!<strong>

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	5. The Children's way of love

**Hi again! Sorry for the long wait but this is the fifth chapter. Hope that you will like it. PLease enjoy! .**

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><p>Chapter 5 – The children's way of love<p>

"Karin… Wake up. The sun is way above the horizon," a deep velvet voice woke her up from her wonderful dream. Rubbing her eyes and giving a small yawn, she opened her eyes to look at the prince of her dream, staring down at her with those big green eyes. She smiled and sat up on her soft, comfortable bed.

"Why do I have to wake up so early in the morning?" Karin asked as she brought the clock right in front of her eyes to get a closer look at the time with her sleepy eyes. It was only 7 in the morning. The sun had just climbed its way up the horizon. Hitsugaya was lying to her.

"I'm planning to take a stroll in the nearby shopping mall with someone. But since that 'someone' wants to sleep more, I guess I can't help it but go alone…" Hitsugaya was threatening her with not being about to see him for a day. He was a captain so unfortunately, he could not afford to visit the real world that often, in other words, he and Karin could not meet up with each other very often. Moreover, he really wanted to see how life's like in the real world and decided to try the shopping mall first.

"I-I-I'll go with you…" Karin said it immediately without thinking and felt embarrassed by her own words after that. Her cheeks were burning hot and they felt hot on the touch. Hitsugaya chuckled at his cute girlfriend while she shies away in extreme embarrassment. This kind of 10cm distance between them was already too hot for her to survive in and that's way she could not understand her brother and Inoue-san sometimes. How could they possibly still kiss under such conditions?

Shoving off those unrelated thoughts away, she quickly got herself changed into her favourite black with white polka-dots dress while Hitsugaya waited outside. He already had himself changed into a black Polo T-shirt and his usual jeans and his silver hair styled with gel. While on the wait, he checked his shinigami's phone for information about the current situation in Soul Society.

He scanned through the details written on the 'Soul Society's Top News' via the Soul-net, something that is similar to our Internet. There, Ichigo's news was among the top news in Soul Society but what caught his attention was the news about the poison that was contained in both Inoue Orihime and Madarame Ikkaku's bodies. It seemed like only some of the captains could enter the page and amongst those who can enter, Histugaya was one of them.

The news read that the poison found in the two's bodies was called Poison Xsyazel-aporro-granz-V, which literally meant Xsyazel-aporro-granz-the fifth. It was nicknamed Poison X in Soul Society for easier communication. Poison X, as said by the twelfth-squad guy previously, was created by Syazel Aporro Graz, the Eight Espada and that gives the explanation of why it was named as it is now. Poison X had now been identified as the poison made to kill the shinigami, humans and what-so-ever. It is capable of killing all the organisms on earth.

The previous fact that all the poison was found in Madarame's body was too suspicious to the shinigamis who were taking care of this case as there are no reasons for the enemy to store all of the remaining poison in Madarame's body. The team sent out by the Sou Taichou had came back with the result that they had found large amount of poison similar to Poison X in Captain Kyouraku's room and now, Kyouraku Taichou had became a big suspect. Madarame Ikkaku might be just a test specimen to him to learn more about the poison while Inoue Orihime was only one of them. However, his test was screwed up when Inoue Orihime did not just die from the poison; she even donated parts of her body to him, allowing him to survive from this disaster. Now, Inoue Orihime, who had spoilt his plan, might be the greatest target to him. Furthermore, since Inoue was having a quarrel with Kurosaki Ichigo, she might end up being alone for times, being an easy target especially to a captain level shinigami.

Hitsugaya closed the page immediately and shoved his phone into his pocket. He could not help but worry about Inoue, since no one knew about this and no one would be there to accompany always, not even Ichigo especially after what he had done. Inoue was not that skilled and was incapable of escaping away from a captain class shinigami. He had to tell Ichigo about it, but not now that is. At least, he knew that Matsumoto and the rest of the women might be there to cheer her up, and that is protecting her from Kyouraku taichou for the moment.

_What the hell is Kyouraku thinking about now?_

"Toshirou-kun, I'm ready. Let's go!" Karin came out from her room in her cute dress. A cute, lovely girl in a cute, lovely dress… She was too cute for him that he covered his mouth to hide his embarrassment away from her, totally forgetting about the report he read from his phone.

The cool reprieve from the refreshing air-conditioner totally invigorated him as they entered the shopping mall with excitement. The shopping mall was like a jamboree for both adults and children. Jovial chatters filled the air, while some families had babies bawling at the top of their voices. The synergy of the merriment all around was making them feel excited.

"Hey, what's that place?" Hitsugaya pointed to an arcade town where the lights were dim and bustling sounds were coming from there.

"It's an arcade. Wanna go there?" Karin asked as she raised her voice so that he could hear her in such a crowded area. Hitsugaya nodded in unanimous agreement as the two of them squeezed their way through the crowd, making their way towards the arcade. That's one good point of being small and short.

"How do you play this?" Hitsugaya asked as he held up a gun from one of the stations and faced her.

"You want to play this?" Karin asked as she pointed to the game station. It was a station for two, just nice for the two kiddy couples.

"Er… I guess so…" Hitsugaya shied away from his embarrassment. Karin replied with a chuckle and nudged him to join her in the game after sliding her game card in the machine.

Karin introduced him to the rules of the game and Hitsugaya gave her confident nod. It seemed as though he was very confident in defeating her in that very game, after all it was a game of fighting and testing of aiming skills. To him, a captain-level shinigami, these things are nothing to him. As expected, Hitsugaya won the Game Mistress Karin in that game but Karin refused to accept. She considered it as a matter of luck and Hitsugaya dared her to challenge him into another game. Karin gave a smirk as she brought him to the street basketball section. For a person who came from ancient Japan, he might not have touched on basketball before; hence she thought her chances of winning in this game would be higher. Again, she patiently introduces him to the game, demonstrating him to how the game works before she started the challenge. And again, he won her. For numerous games, he won her over by several points. Not wanting to disappoint her, he held her hands and led her to the section where machines filled with soft toys were found. Karin was shocked. Not by where he was leading her to, but by the fact that he initiated to hold her hand for the first time. She smiled to herself, telling herself that there is no way she would want to discard this beautiful memory away.

"Want this?" Hitsugaya said in a cool tone, pointing to a medium sized white teddy bear. He had learnt that from a popular magazine that was now on hot sale in Soul Society.

"Yup!"

From the glittering eyes of the black hair princess of his dream, he chuckled softly as he dropped two coins into the coin slot. The machine worked, playing cute background music and shining brilliant lights on the cute soft toys below.

Hitsugaya gathered his fighting spirit and looked into the machine, ready to win against the machine. He was told that these machines in the real world would do nothing but cheat people's money. Since he himself is a respectable taichou from Soul Society, he could not afford to lose against the stupid machine, especially right in front of Karin.

"AHHHH! AAAAHHHHHHHH DAAAAAAAA! RAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Hitsugaya continued screaming unnecessarily, catching the attention of the other people who were trying to have a peaceful game of their own. Karin stood by the side, hiding her face from the countless people's eyes. She knew no sooner after; someone is bound to kick the both of them out of the arcade.

"Got it, here you go, Karin," Hitsugaya handed the teddy bear to Karin whom snuggled against it. He chuckled again and led Karin out of the arcade. Afterwards, they had some ice-cream and went back to the Kurosaki's residence.

"I've to go by now, Karin. Thank you for the great day!" Hitsugaya kissed Karin on the forehead.

"Eh? Why?" Karin was rather surprised by Hitsugaya's words. She did not want him to leave her now, especially when things just got heated up by a little.

"No really, Karin. I have to go now. Something cropped up in Soul Society," Hitsugaya explained, remembering what he had just read from his cellphone.

"Fine," Karin pouted.

Hitsugaya laughed. "Bye then!" he waved to Karin as he walked towards Urahara's candy store.

"Bye," Karin sighed, unwilling to let go of him. She knew that she would not e able to see him any time soon unless he came here with Ichi-nii.

Ichi-nii?

That reminds her that Ichigo had not came back home for three days straight. What had happened to the delinquent brother of hers?

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading this chapter and please review! Anyway chapter 6 is coming up shortly. Stay tuned!<strong>


	6. Feigning Ignorant?

Chapter 6 – Feigning Ignorant

_Kurosaki-kun! Kurosaki-kun!_

_I searched high and low in the school area but to no avail. Kurosaki-kun did not come to school today._

_Kurosaki-kun! Kurosaki-kun!_

_I went to his house but Kurosaki-san told me he hadn't come home yet. He had gone to Soul Society. I smiled to myself. At least, I found him. Is Kurosaki-kun playing a game of hide-and-seek with me?_

_I went to Urahara-san's candy store and pleaded Urahara-san to help me get to Soul Society. Not meeting Kurosaki-kun for even a day was a way too hard for me. I wanted to see him real soon._

_Kurosaki-kun?_

_All I saw was Kurosaki-kun lying on the futon sleeping soundly. His clothes were untidy. His hair was in a mess. His belt, unfastened. Anyone who sees that would definitely mistaken him for some despicable things._

_I was petrified. _

_I did not know whether to believe him a not. _

_He wouldn't do such a thing. Kurosaki-kun wouldn't do such a thing to me. It must all have been a bad dream. A bad dream…_

_Aaahhhhhhhh!_

_I dashed out of the barracks. I want to go home now. I want to go back to the real world now. I want to go to where Onii-chan is right now. I hate him. I HATE him! B-but why? Why is my heart aching? He's a bastard. I shouldn't cry for him. I shouldn't heartache for him. Kurosaki-kun, tell me this is just a bad dream. Please, wake me up from this nightmare. God, don't be so harsh on me. Even though it may be too thick-skinned for me to say this, but for this entire life, I had not done anything wrong. I don't deserve this pain. Kurosaki-kun wouldn't betray me._

Inoue woke up in a jolt. Sweats were pouring down heavily from her forehead, soaking her shirt.

_Was it only a dream?_

The dream was so real that she had confused it with the real one. Had it really happened?

She looked around her surroundings. It was a ward-like place with ancient Japanese wooden doors.

She rubbed her eyes and yawned slightly only to feel her eyes were sore.

_I must have cried a lot earlier._

She could now confirm the dream. It was a replica of the real events that had happened, something that she wanted to erase completely, especially not wanting it to even appears in her dreams.

_When is this episode going to end?_

She collapsed back to her sick bed and smacked her face with the back of her hand. Through the tiny window to her right, she could see the shy moon that covered half of her beautiful white face with the bamboos outside.

_Kurosaki-kun…_

She called his name for the last time before falling asleep again.

"Tsk"

Ichigo woke up with a bad headache. He looked around his surroundings and his clothes.

_Totally not compatible, are they?_

He yawned, signaling the start of a day. Somehow, his senses tell him that things are not going well for him today.

Ichigo quickly got himself changed back into his shinigami robes to avoid being the spotlight when walking around a place of a different era. Rubbing the both sides of his head with his fists, he was trying to recall what he had done the night before but to no avail. Nothing… He could remember nothing at all.

_Who cares about that? Inoue comes first._

He smiled, walking down the streets to get Inoue a bouquet of flowers or so. He ended up walking into a jewelries shop and got her a pretty and more modern-like hairpin so she could carry it with her always.

He smiled, contented with his own gift. Inoue would like it, he thought.

"Inoue!" he cried, opening the door to her ward.

Unexpectedly, the members of the women's association forbid him from entering. He giggled.

"What trick are you guys doing now?" Ichigo asked, having no ideas of what the women were doing. He knew only that visiting Inoue was something that he should do.

"Tsk. This man really is something," Nanao mumbled. Ichigo heard that but acted as if he hadn't.

"Let me go in," Ichigo asked as politely as he could. Somehow, the sudden politeness from the rude boy sends shivers down the women's spines.

"No, not after what you have done to Inoue!" Matsumoto suddenly stood in front of the rest, arms apart, forbidding Ichigo from entering.

"If you guys are so persistent, then I'll barge in," Ichigo growled, his reiatsu was rising at an incredible speed.

"I said no!" Matsumoto challenged him, drawing out her zampakutou.

"Let me in," Ichigo bellowed.

"Didn't you understand?"

"Didn't you hear me?"

The two of them stared at each other into the eyes with hatred. Ichigo still couldn't make out what he had done to make those women so furious at him at. He had only wanted to see his girlfriend and what was wrong with it. These women were so difficult to live with.

"Could you guys leave me and Kurosaki-kun alone? I wish to talk to him in private," the sickly girl on the sickbed finally spoke. Matsumoto put her sword back in place and led the crowd to leave the place. Ichigo smiled in joy and victory, thinking that Inoue wanted to spend quality time with him alone.

He stepped in the ward and in there, as expected, a girl with waist-length auburn hair and porcelain skin sat on the bed. Her grey eyes were not meeting his brown ones. From her face, he could tell that she had been crying for a long time, but why? Why is she crying? Why is she so disappointed to see him there with her, especially when they were alone? 

"Inoue?" his voice was deep and soft.

"What did you do last night?" was his answer.

"I couldn't remember a thing," Ichigo answered truthfully.

"Liar," she answered.

With only one word, he could feel how painful it was in his heart. Even those merciless, heartless stabbings in the heart could not compare with how it hurts to hear her saying that he had lied to her when he knew he had not.

"I am not," his voice was calm and flat.

"You betrayed me," she challenged him.

Again, he could feel the same stab in the heart. However, it hurts more now. With the pain he suffered previously was not cured, another arrow came piercing right through his heart, wavering about as if to make it worse for him.

"I hadn't," Ichigo answered in the same flat voice, this time with more strength.

However, this time, there was no answer from her. For a moment or a few seconds, the room was in a dead silence. He turned his eyes to look at hers. It was red. It was flowing out precious tears that trickled their way down her chin. He looked and frowned. For once, he thought that he had not understood Inoue well enough. Was Inoue always so easily jealous? He thought no as Inoue had always not minded that much about him being with Rukia alone. So, why is she so mindful of it now? What had he really done?

"Tell me, Inoue. What had I done wrong?" Ichigo's voice was filled with frustration.

"You know it yourself," Inoue turned her head away to look away from him.

"At least, tell me about it," Ichigo asked again, raising his voice by a little. That helped those busybodies outside to hear what Ichigo had said to Inoue.

"Get out," Inoue mumbled, her tears still flowed continuously.

"Tell me," Ichigo insisted.

"Get out!" Inoue raised her voice that scared the wits out of the women outside. It was one of the rare times that Inoue actually raised her voice.

"Fine!"

Ichigo stormed his way out of her ward, opening the door to see the women from the women's association all tumbling above one another.

"Happy to see that ending, huh," Ichigo asked the women sarcastically.

"You… You better watch out!" Nanao almost draw out her sword to attack him when she was dragged back into the ward by Matsumoto and Nemu.

Rukia walked up to Ichigo and whispered.

"Better know the situation from the guys," she warned him and walked back into the ward to join the rest of the women from the women's association before Ichigo could ask her anything about what had happened to Inoue. No matter what, what he had done must have been a really serious thing.

Meanwhile, while the two teenagers from the real world were having their couple fight, some of the chosen captains and vice-captains were having a meeting in the forth-squad meeting room.

There was a long rectangular wooden table and right at the front sat the forth squad captain. Byakuya, Renji, Komamura, Kira, Hisagi, Ukitake, Hitsugaya and Zaraki were all at scene too.

"I don't see Ichigo here," Renji asked, searching high and low for Ichigo in a dramatic way.

"I didn't invite him here," Unohana answered bluntly.

"He should be here too, it concerns him too," Hitsgaya commented, resting his head on the back of the seat with arms crossed over his small chest.

"I agree too," Byakuya opened his mouth to speak in his usual, full-of-pride tone.

"Should I go and ask him to come here," Zaraki offered, a sly smile was seen plastered on his face. Everyone who knows him would know that he only use it as an excuse to fight with Ichigo.

"There's no need to," Ukitake said, standing up with both hands supporting on the table. He sat back into his seat once the commotion was down.

"Kurosaki-san is not in the mood to attend this meeting so I did not invite him," Unohana explained.

She knew about the current situation between Ichigo and Inoue and thought that it might have been better for him not to know about what was happening outside now since the matter was not blown up yet and gave him this chance to patch up with Inoue. At least, that would ensure the safety of Inoue.

"Then, what about Inoue-san," Komamura asked. Nowadays, he had not had his mask on and it was quite an unpleasant scene to look at him straight in the face. It felt as though you were looking at a giant sized wolf.

"She had the women's association to look after by. However, that won't last her long since they were not informed about the matter," Unohana answered. In situations like this, it had always seen to be her as being the leader.

"I see," Byakuya answered, "So, how's the situation now?"

"Kyouraku-taichou is still in the dark that we had found out about this matter. However, there are clues left behind by him in his room. Here are the samples," Unohana passed down each one in the meeting room a set of notes regarding the evidences they had found in Kyouraku's room. Renji flipped through the sets of notes in advance and began reading them from the first page. Everyone was given approximately fifteen minutes or so to digest the information in the notes while Unohana had her vice-captain, Isane, to boil coffee for the captains and vice-captains.

"So, what's this?" Hisagi asked, pointing to a sample of disgusting animal-skin-like thing attached to his set of information.

"These are some of the pig's skin found in Kyouraku's room."

"Pig's skin… Why is there pig's skin in his room?" Ukitake asked.

"Well, we are suspecting that Kyouraku-taichou had used pig's skin as a mask to conceal his real appearance," Unohana said.

"That means to say that the Kyouraku-taichou now is a fake one?" Kira finally opened his mouth to say something.

"Highly possible," Byakuya answered.

"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's beat the crap out of him," Zaraki said, holding onto his zampakutou, ready for an attack.

"No, not yet," Unohana replied. Hitsugaya nodded in agreement.

"We have to wait until Kyouraku makes other moves or leaves us with more evidences of what he is planning to do next," Hitsugaya explained on Unohana's behalf.

"Why?" Zaraki asked.

"There might be even more enemies other than Kyouraku himself hiding in the Soul Society. We have to be careful with this. If we had killed the fake Kyouraku now, we won't be able to find the whereabouts of the real Kyouraku and the enemies might straightaway open a war between the two of us, defeating our startled shinigamis. That is not beneficial to us," Ukitake replied.

"Fine," Zaraki sat back into his seat.

"No matter what, we have to find out about the enemies plan and know who they are first," Hitsugaya said.

The rest of them agreed and sat in the meeting room, deep in thought of what they have to do next in order to find out about the enemies' plan.


	7. Together again?

**Hello everyone! Nice to see you guys again. **

**I am very sorry for this super late update because of some homework. But nevermind, I finished them already. **

**Anyway, bringing to you the latest chapter, Chapter 7 - Together again?**

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><p>Chapter 7 – Together again?<p>

I drank from my twentieth cup of wine.

I could feel the heaviness of my lanky body pulling me into a deep slumber.

I could even feel my brain swishing from side to side, turning my mind into a swirl.

I could not help myself but to drink more even though the taste was disgusting.

What I only knew is that, my Hime is gone… I want to forget about this pain…

Hime… Hime…

I sat at the night bar's lounge bar, drinking the awful wine, trying to forget about the unhappy things that occurred today. Still, my memory had not recovered. I could not figure out the reasons behind Hime's sudden cold reaction towards me. I hate this.

I felt a pat on my shoulder but I was way too lazy to care about whom the hell is the annoying person. I called the bartender for the twenty-first cup of wine.

The annoying person called my name and shook me vigorously to wake me up when I am still so sober. Idiot, can't he even decipher the sober from the drunken? I slapped his hand off, without even taking a look at him.

"What do you think you are doing?" the person spoke.

I recognized the voice immediately. It belonged to someone I really hate. A certain red headed.

"What I am doing? I am drinking, of course," I simply replied to him. Seriously, does he even have eyes? No, wait. I doubt he can't see well with those tiny eyes of his.

"Why are you doing this?" he raised his voice as if I could not hear him clear enough.

I ignored him. The bartender shoved me my order. I took my glass of ecstasy and finished it in a mouthful.

He slumped into the seat beside me and ordered the same drink as me. He said nothing more but I knew he was waiting for my reply. Still, I remained silent.

The bartender shoved him his order. He sipped a little of it.

"If you want her back, then face it like a man," he said, taking another sip of his whiskey.

I smirked.

"I don't think I want to hear something like that from a person who couldn't even face the person he liked for so long," I said without thinking.

He rose from his seat suddenly. The screeching sound from the chair scared the wits out of the people in the bar. Everyone turned their attention towards us.

"I don't wish to argue with a drunken but it is you that left me with no choice!" he vociferated.

His roar, or is it my drunkenness; caused a headache in my mind that I supported my throbbing head with my hands, moaning about the pain that it caused me.

I, too, stood up from the seat and face him face-to-face. Now, this tattooed guy is seriously pissing me off every freaking second.

Everyone rose from their seat, scampering away as my reiatsu filled the place. I had been warned by the old man here, Sou-Taichou, that I could not release my power in Rukongai but who cares. Right now, I only wanted to kill this bastard here.

"Are you trying to pick up a fight with me, Abarai Renji?"

**Third person's point of view**

"Tch. Changing your usual choice of words already, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Renji challenged. It was almost obvious that he too was preparing for a fight, with all the sudden alleviation in his reiatsu.

"I don't think I have to answer such a question to someone of minor importance like you," Ichigo smirked. His reiatsu is continuing to rise.

"What the fucking bastard has you changed into, Ichigo?" Renji screamed.

"What? I am still who I am," Ichigo retorted.

"I can't believe you're Ichigo. The Ichigo I knew would never want to give up just because of a small breakdown!"

"So what if I am someone like this?"

"You aren't."

"You can see that for now," Ichigo said, trying to maintain his balance. "I am like this. I am nothing now."

"Who says you are nothing-,"

"I say so!" Ichigo cut him off.

"Fine!"

Renji stormed off. It was not that he did not care about his friend, but because it was his friend that did not want to pick himself up from where he had fallen.

Just after a few minutes after Renji left the scene, the familiar auburn-haired girl entered the scene. She was wearing the patient's pyjamas.

Looking a bit sympathetic at the drunken man, she called out to him.

"Kurosaki-kun"

Her sweet and delicate voice reached the owner of the name. He turned around facing her.

"I-Inoue?"

Still stoned to see her in front of him, he rubbed his eyes again. There she was, standing there waiting for him. The girl that had refused to meet him for a week was now standing right in front of him.

She smiled.

He smiled.

"Inoue"

He was confirmed that she was there.

He ran forward to hug her tight. There's no way he could have let her go.

"Inoue," he whispered her name. "Inoue, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry…" he kept on repeating the words.

She did not reply but patted on his back gently and smiled inwardly.

The smile was nothing that nobody had ever seen on Inoue's face. It was so evil; contradicting to her pure innocence self.

Inoue had never thought Ichigo would be able to see it but through the help of the mirror behind her, the smile was seen by him.

Who is she?

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading and please review!<strong>

**For those who had reviewed the last chapter, thank you very much.**

**Magdalena88: **Thanks for waiting. But here's the chapter that you're waiting for.

**nypsy:** Nice guessing there. But I am not going to disclose the secret until the chapter is out. Hope you would continue to suport me!

**Aiasaka: **Thank you for your continuous support! I would try not to disappoint you.

**Nicholee33:** Sad to say but there will be even more sad things coming up after this...

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><p><strong>No matter what goes wrong, IchiHime rockz the most!<strong>

**Stay tuned for the next update!**


	8. The Mysterious Girl

Hi guys! Long time no see (a typical Singaporeans way of greeting)! Well, this is the latest chapter on An IchiXHime story and I hope you guys will enjoy this.

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><p>Chapter 8 – The Mysterious Girl<p>

Inoue's POV

I don't even know what I am doing. Do I know this person? Or do I not? But The Lord says so. I must believe in The Lord. If The Lord says I know this person and that I should eliminate this young man here, I should. After all, it is The Lord that saves me from Aizen's clutches. He is always true.

I heed to my commands and silently took out the knife that is hiding beneath my clothes. He couldn't have seen it. Not even with powerful eyes. Little by little, I inched closer to him, feeling my heart beating for him unknowingly. It felt as if my heart is slamming against my ribs and electric currents running all around my body, especially my spine. My face tingles with unknown embarrassment and yet here I am, holding on to the hilt of the knife, aiming its sharp end at the young man's abdomen.

I acted as if I really missed this stranger here; that was The Lord's command. I nibbled his neck and traced my tongue along his collarbone and up again to the spot. There and then, I sucked and licked it as if it was my favourite strawberry flavoured ice-cream. My body is acting by itself; it is acting on its past experience. Regardless of what relationship I may have with this gentleman down here, it must have been complicated. Maybe The Lord is true that I was a spy under him to track on this young man by becoming his girlfriend. On the surface, it all seems right to me. I am doing the right thing. Inoue Orihime, believe in you. Brace your courage and end the darkness in this world.

Kurosaki Ichigo groaned as my hands roamed his body. His hands were right on my butts, kneading them as if they were a piece of dough. His mouth soon found mine and captured it into a delicious kiss. Mmmm… This guy sure knows how to kiss. His tongue entwined with mine and created chaos in my mouth. Soon, it got faster and faster and I almost forgotten my mission here – to kill him.

The hilt in my palm reminded me of the mission I am supposed to complete by today, as an appreciation to thank The Lord for eliminating Aizen. Since he had set high expectations from me, I should not let him down. So what if this guy can kiss? It doesn't mean that I should sacrifice my beloved world and become the girl of a bad guy.

I moved the knife closer and closer to him, taking an aim for his heart from his back before pulling it back. I shut my eyes tight; I knew I would not be able to stand the sight of a pool of blood. The worst of the worst have come. I should be mentally prepared by now. There is no more time to waste. In a swift motion, I stab the knife into his body.

.

..

…

Had I done the job in the correct way?

My hand still wavered on the handle. My eyes still shut.

But I am absolutely sure that I hear a smirk coming from his mouth.

"I'm truly sorry. May you rest in peace in the other world, Kurosaki Ichigo-san," I muttered. I could his weight on me gradually increasing.

He smirked the second time.

"Why do you have to do this, Inoue Orihime-san," he asked.

I sensed the difference in his tone and how he had changed the way he addressed me.

"You knew I am going to hurt you all along?"

He merely nodded, as if that is the easiest thing in the world to do. How could he be so calm? How could he belittle his life? Even if he is a good fighter, it does not make him more resistant towards wounds. He is still a human. A real, living and breathing human and a substitute shinigami soul…. How long is he going to hurt his body? On this rate, he will definitely collapse.

For some strange reason, I am actually caring for him, a TOTAL stranger.

I opened my eyes to look at him. It really struck me when I found out I had actually stabbed a person, a gorgeous looking young lad. His lean body is now putting more weight on my shoulders; his legs can no longer handle the weight. His orange-haired head hung low on my shoulder, casting a smile at me when his back is constantly dripping blood on the floor. Don't ask me about his robe. The entire part covering his back is stained with blood.

I killed him.

No, I am murdering him. He is not dead yet.

I released the grip on the handle and help him to a chair, not wanting to hurt him more than this. All I could say was sorry. All I could do was to say sorry. What could I do more?

I could have healed him. I am a healer.

What am I thinking? If I heal him now, wouldn't all the things that I do earlier go down the drain?

I hesitated. I stared at his wound and back to his face again. It was turning paler and paler as each second passed.

"You don't have to worry about me."

His husky voice caught my attention.

"Better go off now, you might get caught mid-way."

He smiled again.

Why is he still worrying about the others when he is already very badly injured. And does he have any sense of right and wrong? Isn't it wrong to care about your enemy who had just tried to murder you?

"STOP THAT!"

I screamed out. I did not know why but I just felt a need to let him know.

"Don't worry about your enemy's well-being, Kurosaki Ichigo-san"

I sobbed and sniffed. My face must have been nasty, with tears rolling down and mucus flowing out of my nose. I wiped them off with the back of my hand and cried out loud. A searing pain was felt in my heart, threatening to break my heart into half. Why am I feeling so much for him?

"Because you are Inoue Orihime"

I stunned and faced him face-to-face.

"Because I love you, Orihime"

I could not believe that even hearing him saying out my name was a torture. It was as though he was trying to make me feel guiltier than before, in which I do not think he is such a bad guy. In fact, after this meet-up with him, I don't think he is that bad a guy. Maybe this is just a hoax, but deep in my heart, I trusted him. I trust him too much.

"Stupid… Ichigo"

I braced my courage to call him by his first name. He smiled and nodded before closing his eyes. His smile is still there. At least, that is good enough to remind her that he is still alive. Should anyone see him, they might bring him to the hospital.

Stupid Kurosaki-kun.

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><p>Ichigo's POV<p>

I knew I am dying; I am not that long-life a person. But just being able to see my girl in front of me makes me feel secure. Even after a week of not seeing her, even after a week of trying to hate her, I still couldn't get over with it. Just by seeing her, my heart raced. Just by hearing her voice, my body melted. Even if she is here to kill me, I am glad to die in her hands. This is all because of one reason. That I loved her, and my heart beats for her.

The second she broke into tears when she realized she stabbed her supposed 'enemy', I knew I should not doubt if she is Inoue Orihime. No matter how she changed, her character would give her away. The Inoue I know doesn't want any to die from a war. May it be an enemy of her friend, she wished that they would survive. She moaned for every deceased; she cried for every deceased. Her heart of gold is what I yearned for and it is what I don't think I possessed. This may be one of the reasons I am attracted to her.

I loved her, I truly do.

In fact, I was wishing that I would not die from this stab. But that was highly impossible. Who would come to save me? Renji? No, we just had a fight. Rukia? No, she must be out somewhere looking for Inoue. Who else? Inoue? She had just left.

There is no one to save me. There is no one that I can rely on now.

Please someone, save me. I want to meet Inoue one more time. No, I want to spend the rest of my life together with her.

Please someone…

Please…. God.

I never thought I would come to such a pitiful state, begging and wishing for people to save me. Trust me, I never thought I would.

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><p>Authour's comments:<p>

Pisces00: Of course, he will remember. But that will be in the later part

Nicholee33: Still the same answer to you, it will become even sadder

nypsy: A very belated New Yer to you. Wow... That is really a very long review... Great guessing and you are quite sopt-pn for some of them. I would n't tell you which one as I would leave it for you to decipher as the story goes on.

Angelina Cat: I checked out your story. It's pretty amazing too. And I don't think Orihime will have a hollow side, at least in this story...

Crazzielizzie: Thanks for your awesome review

Magdalena88: Sometimes, things are not that simple as it might look on the surface

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><p>Still the same, PLEASE review! :)<p> 


	9. Miserable Man

Chapter 9 – Miserable Man

Ichigo woke up finding himself in a room that is not his. He surveyed his surroundings. Japanese-styled room that is filled with the scent of jasmine, and furthermore, he was wearing a yukata himself. Peering through the little gap in between the white curtains, he saw pink cheery blossoms with its petals dancing about, swaying about in the wind. No doubt, it is the sixth-quarters barracks, Renji's room.

He clutched his head in his palm as a sudden wave of dizziness dawned upon him and he felt a stingy ache in his abdomen.

"Yo, buddy! You woke up already? I was planning to kick you off the futon to wake you up!" Renji remarked, giving him a cunning smile as he told him dramatically what he intended to do.

"For what? I was just having a short nap," Ichigo retorted back, turning away to face the window again.

"Short nap? You treat 3 days as a short nap, you damn idiot! I was there resisting the pain of kicking you off my futon so that I could get a good sleep!" Renji reminded him of the day indirectly.

"Three days had passed huh?" Ichigo's reply was rather emotional. He looked out at the window, as if he seen something interesting out there. Inoue attacked him three whole days ago. He had wasted three whole days here, lying on this stupid futon, drowning into his sweet dreams happily when his girlfriend was controlled by some evil spirits. He sighed deeply again.

"Hey, Ichigo. Don't act so clever and knowledgeable out of a sudden. Return back to your bastard and idiotic self. It creeps me out to see you like that!" Renji poked him in the side of Ichigo's abdomen, making him jerked and shrieked.

"What do you think you are doing, Renji!" In his eyes, only fiery flames were seen and murderous aura surrounded his back.

"Yeah, yeah, just like that. Just as bastard as you are now, Ichigo! For a moment, I thought Byakuya's spirit had clinged onto you when you make that I-am-a-filled-with-wisdom-person face!"

Oh no! He said the wrong thing.

Ichigo began chasing him out of the room even though that was Renji's room to start with.

"Hey! That's my room! Where am I going to sleep tonight!" Renji's deep voice was heard from the outside with consistent banging on the room. He was stupid enough to fix a real world's lock on his own room's door.

"Who cares about you!" Ichigo smirked and walked back into the room. He settled down at the small coffee table that was situated right smack at the center of the room. On the little wooden table, a small glass filled with jasmine caught his attention.

The scent of jasmine…

The scent of a beautiful woman…

The scent of the woman he likes…

The scent of Inoue…

Why must god make him a miserable man by not giving him a good romance? He loved Inoue. He knew that their love is pure. So why must they be put under such a great test of courage and love? Inoue is separated from him. No wait, cancel that. Inoue is too far away from him. She is out of his reach. Inoue is lost in the third world, waiting for him to save him.

He must save her. He have to save her. Because he made a promise to himself that even if everyone were to oppose them, even if he were to go down to hell to save her, he would do whatever he could do to save her all because she is Inoue, and Inoue is the woman he loves. They would be together until death drove them apart".

He chuckled a little at the little vow he made to himself as tiny rolls of tears trickled down his cheeks. He sobbed and sniffed a little, not wanting anyone to hear his miserable crying for a certain orange-haired lass. Inoue's image was stuck in his mind, causing him the intolerable pain in his head. He hated it that he had actually sunken so low as to cry at the age of fifteen. Inoue changed his life way too much.

As he sobbed, little did he know that Renji had always been sitting against the door, listening to him talking to himself, asking himself and also crying alone. How much he wanted to bash right into the room to console his best friend but that would hurt his pride. Ichigo was his best friend and a little brother to him. As much as he did not want to admit it, he cares a lot about Ichigo. Now that he was hurt thoroughly in the heart, it ache him to see him so painful. He hates it. He hates not being able to help him in romance as he himself had no idea how to love someone, how to court someone that you love dearly.

The two young man under the same rooftop sighed in unison and stared up at the beautiful baby blue sky above them. Magnolia white clouds waltzed across the sky as birds hovered about around it freely. Often, a playful zephyr would caress their cheeks a little calming their clenched heart little by little, relaxing their minds. It reminded them of the tasks they have on hands now and not to let all these things bother them too much. Rather than wasting their precious time thinking about these unhappy things, they would rather get themselves prepared to go on war with the invisible and unknown enemy they are fighting against with.

Gathering their determination, they stood up and Ichigo opened the door finally. Renji was delighted to see his best friend's face that was glistering with the readiness to fight. He heaved a sigh of relief and tapped him on the shoulders.

"Time to go for preparations?" Renji asked Ichigo.

"Time to go for planning and investigation, you mean? We don't even know who we were fighting against with," he smirked.

"Alright, alright, you win this time," he laughed and placed his arm on his shoulders.

"Erm… Renji, could you please don't do that? It's so gay," Ichigo remarked.

"What? We are best of the best enemies after all!" he exclaimed.

And the both of them laughed as they strode down the streets.


	10. Friends or Enemies

Hi everyone, its me again! Good to know that more people are liking my story now and I am back from the dead to write more stories for you guys! Happy reading!

To **nypsy: **Thank you for you continuous support for this story! And nice guess there. Well, it is not really Tsukishima nor Aizen... Justread on to find out more!**  
><strong>

To** Pisces00: **I hate Ichigo being badly injured that's why I made his recovery so fast! Haha! Well... I am kind of a Ichigo, Byakuya and Renji's fan so I think it is likely that I will have lots of moments of them being together!

To ** : **Thank you for thinking that this story is a sweet one. I love IchiHime and wanted them to be so in love thats why I thought that the best way to present their love is to make them undergo several obstacles and thus making them realize just how much they needed each other... Haha!

No further ado, lets welcome the 10th Chapter! WOWWWWW!

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><p>Chapter 10 – Friends or Enemies<p>

"What's the meaning of this? Care to explain, young lad?" Yumichika drew his sword and place it dangerous on Ichigo's neck. A few drops of blood had followed the shiny blade of the sword and trickled to the floor like red rubies.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Ichigo asked. For some reasons, just when he and Renji were discussing about Inoue's case has got something to do have the always-drinking-wine-and-thinking-about-women Kyouraku, they were attacked by Ikkaku and Yumichika. Renji was held captive by Ikkaku.

"What the hell are we talking about?" Yumichika asked sacarstically. "You did it and still dare to ask us?" he continued, bringing the sword even closer to Ichigo.

If Ichigo had the will to attack his friends, he would have done so much earlier before. But before that, he wanted to make everything clear.

"Mayuri-taichou had done experiments on the pig's skin found in Kyouraku-taichou's room and found it to be the ones brought from the human's world. And according to his research, it was still fresh and new and he suspected that someone must have brought it from the human world for him to start his plan of destroying the Soul Society," Ikkaku paused for a moment, leaving a tensed atmosphere in the air.

"So you are thinking that Ichigo and I were the ones helping Kyouraku? Just because we were the only ones who goes into the human world often?" Renji asked. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" he vociferated and that only helped in angering Ikkaku to grab his even tighter, causing his to screamed out. He must have used poison against Renji.

"He's right! Ikkaku, get your fucking hands off Renji!" Ichigo said and broke free of Yumichika's hold easily. "Why would I want to help anyone who had hurt my girlfriend? Inoue is captured and you guys know it! And now, you guys are suspecting me and Renji?!" Ichigo asked.

"If its not you, then its who?! You could be one of the people wearing a mask and disguised yourselves as Ichigo and Renji. Or you might have been hypnotized by your MASTER just like Inoue! Everything is possible!" Yumichika said.

_Right… Yumichika's right._

_Everything is possible._

_Even the possibility of Renji being a spy is also possible. _

_Even the possibility of the enemy replicating lots of clones of Inoue is possible._

_Even the possibility of me being hypnotized by the enemy is possible…_

_Everything and anyone can be fake._

_I have no one else to rely on._

_The cold air whizzed across us. The silence in the air is killing everyone in the argument. Renji stayed quiet and looked hopeless._

_Whoever are friends now have to be wary of their 'friends' already._

_Whoever is the enemy now must have planned something like this to happen. He must have wanted a fight to broke out between everyone in Soul Society and making Soul Society even vulnerable. Such a cruel way of fighting yet cunning. _

_Whoever that person is, he had succeeded in his plan. All we can do now is to hope that we could survive at the end of the long fight._

"Attention to all, can all the vice-captains and captains please proceed to the meeting room now at Squad One's meeting room? Substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo is also expected to arrive at the meeting room for a short meeting regarding the recent case. Thank you," the announcement rang throughout the whole P.A. system in Soul Society.

Renji and Ichigo looked at each other in the eyes.

_No, I shouldn't not trust Renji. He is the only person I can rely on now, and Rukia, too._

"I repeat, can all the vice-captains and captains please proceed to the meeting room IMMEDIATELY at the…" the voice over the P.A. system ran again.

"Go now. One more time they are making the announcement, you know you guys are going to be punished by cleaning the toilets for a week," Ikkaku tried to crack a joke with the serious look on his face.

Ichigo couldn't help about chuckle softly. At least, he knows that the Ikkaku in front of him is not an enemy. He is a FRIEND.

"Right, Renji, we should go now," Ichigo said, patting his yukata to straighten it. Renji was trying to make his red hair to stand out better behind.

"Yeah. Bye, Ikkaku and Yumichika. We'll update you with the things that we heard in the meeting room if it is allowed," Renji said without looking at them, trying to catch up with Ichigo who was trying to reach the meeting room on time.

"I repeat, can all the vice-captains and captains please proceed to the meeting room now at Squad One's meeting room? Substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo is also expected to arrive at the meeting room for a short meeting regarding the recent case. Thank you. Hang on, Soutaicho have something to say to everyone. –sound of someone handing over the mike- The one who arrives the latest is going to clean the toilet for a Month!" his hoarse voice could be heard everywhere.

"WHEN DID THE TOILET-CLEANING PUNISHMENT BEEN RAISED TO A MONTH?!" everyone cried and rushed to the Squad One's room at once.

Even though it may be something juvenile, the toilet-cleaning punishment had certainly made everyone get their asses off the ground and reach the meeting room at once.

* * *

><p>Thank you for reading! Remember to leave your comments behind! Every little comment is a motivation for me to continue writing this story. Long life to IchiHime!<p> 


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